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'N M d 1. o e A. P. TRAGESER.

WATER HEATER. No. 584,276. Patented June 8,1897.

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ALBERT F. TRAGESER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

WATER-HEATER.

SPECIFCATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 584,276, dated June 8,1897. Application filed October 20, 1896. vSerial No. 609,443. (Nomodel.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Beit known that I, ALBERT FERDINAND TRAGESER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of the city of New York, in the county of NewYork and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Tater-Heaters, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention consists of a water-heater designed to be operated by theordinary domestic servant to furnish a continuous supply of hot water aslong as may be desired and to be used and disused at a moments notice.It is primarily designed for-domestic use in flats and the like, orwherever permanent water-heating devicessuch as the water-back and thehot-water boiler ofthe ordinary cooking-range-are either permanently orfor any reason temporarily unavailable. While devices for this purposeare already known, they are complex, cumbersome, and expensive and -notvery efficient, considering their bulk, rst cost, and cost of operation.My device, on the contrary, is, comparatively speaking, small, simple,cheap to make and cheap to use, and very efficient.

In experimental practice my device, when measuring but twentypne incheslong by seven inches wide by twelve inches high on the outside, hasraised continuously one and one-half gallons of water perminute from Oup to 14()o Fahrenheit.

My device has the further superiority that it absolutely drains itselfwhen disused, so that no stagnant water remains therein.

In the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure l representsa top plan view. Fig. lfL is a fragmentary top view showing the handleof the main gas-valve. Fig. 2 represents a side elevation, partly insection, on the line 2 2 of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the inletend of my device. Fig. 4 is an elevation of the opposite end. Figs. 5and 6 are plan views of the shelves within my device over which thewater flows while being heated.

In the drawings, A represents an outer casing for ornamental purposes,inclosing most of the operative parts of my device.

B is the shell of my water-heater, provided with an exit C at top forthe escape of air and spent gas.

heating in the direction indicated by the ary rows. These shelves havethe form shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the bottom shelf next the source ofheat having the form. of Fig. 6, the next above that having the form ofFig. 5, the third that of Fig. 6, only shortened and not perforated atS, and so on alternately throughout the series, no matter how manyshelves may be employed. These shelves are preferably embossed on theirupper surface with slightly-raised projections E E, which may be of anyform which will tend to cause the downflowing sheet of water to diffuseitself more evenly over the surface of the shelf. The lower shelf andthose of similar form in the series are cut away on the sides, as shownat F in Fig. 6, the object being to provide a spacebetween the edge ofthe shelf and the wall of the inner shell B for the circulation of theheat. The other shelves in the series, being each alternate shelf, areprovided with a central longitudinal opening G for the same purpose. Theedges of these shelves, as well as of the various openings thereinaforesaid, are turned upward, so as to confine the iiowing water uponthe shelves except at the discharge ends.

The casing A and shell B of my waterheater, together with the shelves Dand their openings F and G, are oblong in plan, as shown in Figs. l, 5,and 6, and are thusreadily made of the required capacity to insureheating a sufficient quantity of water in an apparatus of given heightand width occupying the least possible space, while a free and effectivecirculation of the hot air is provided for through and around thesuccessive shelves transversely as well as longitudinally back and forthbeneath the successive shelves, so as to fully utilize the combustion ofgas and render the fiow of heated air unobstructed and uniform.

H is the water-supply pipe, which terminates within the interior of mydevice in the rectangular double-armed or T-shaped pipe I. (Best shownin dotted lines in Fig. l.) The pipe I is provided with a number ofsmall holes upon its under side for the escape of the water receivedfrom the supply-pipe.

IOO

acti'iating-handle of the gas-valve M.

J in Fig. 2 is a curved trough placed parallel with and a slightdistance from the pipe I to serve the purposes of a baffle-plate, sothat the small streams of Water which issue with force from the pipe Imay impinge upon the baille-plate J and be broken up. The baffle-plate Jis provided with openings of its own,through which the water impin gin gupon it may escape gently onto the upper shelf and be as evenly diffusedthereon as possible.

The water-supply pipe I-I is provided with a horizontal spigot-valve K,actuated by the long arm L. This arm L is so locked into thewheel-shaped actuating-handle of the gasvalve M by means of a notch m,Fig. l",`in

said handle that the gas-valve Cannot be opened and the gas admitted. tothe heatingburner Without Iirst raising the arm L and thus openin g thewater-valve K and starting a flow of water through the device, theobject being to render it impossible to injure the `device by applyingthe heat while the device is dry.

N is the gas-supply pipe, provided with'a subsidiary pipe O, terminatingin a small P is the air-mixer, attached to the heatingburner Q. Theburner Q is placed lin the position shown in Fig. 2. It is provided onits upper surface with a number of saw-slits or other oriiices for 'theescape of the gas.

S, Figs. 2, 4, and 6, is the hot-water discharge.

The inner shell and the Vshelves of my water-heater may be made ofsheet-copper or any other suitable material. The outer shell A, beingmerely for ornamental purposes, may be made according to taste.

My device is operated as follows: The arm L, Fig. 2, is raised, so as'to disengage the This starts the water, which escapes from the pipe Ionto the baflie-plate J, and thence flows 'in a thin sheet over theinclined surface of the upper shelf toward its lower end. Thence 'itescapes, as indicated by the arrows, from shelf to shelf until itfinally makes its escape at the hot-water exit S at the bottom of thedevice. As soon as the gas-valve is freed,by raising vthe arm L of theWater-valve or it may be previously, gas is admitted to the subsidiarygas-pipe O and its burner is lighted. The main gas-valve M is then'opened and the gas sent into the heating-burner Q through the air-mixerP to insure perfect and smokeless combustion. As the mixed air and gasescapes from the heating-burner Q through the oriiices -R R the gas isignited by the subsidiary burner attached to the pipe O, and the deviceis in operation and will act continuously until stopped. Vhen the devicehas served its purpose for the time beingthe main gas-valve M is closed,which extinguishes the heating-burner. The arm L from t'he water-valveis then brought downward and locked into the actuating-handle of themain gas-valve, which shuts off the supply of water. Lastly, if notbefore, the gas is shut off from the subsidiary pipe O and 'the deviceis at rest until `next required. As soon as the water is turned off theshelves D drain themselveslsuceessively, so that -they may be and aredried by the retained heat. l

Having thus described my invention and its mode of operation, what Icl-aim `as new, and desire to patent, is-

1. In -a water-heater, the combination with a shell having an air-exitat top, means for introducing running water at the top of said shell anda heat-generator at its `bottom, of a water-exposin g andsel'f-drainingshelf above said heat-generatorprovided ori-'top withiiowd-i'ffusing projection-s, substantially as Ahereinbe'i'orespecified.

2. The combination, i'n a water-heater `oblong i-n plan, of awater-supply pipe at top, terminating at one end of the heater in la T-shaped pipe the cross-piece of which is pe-rforated at bottom, alperforated baffle-plate beneath said cross-piece, `a Vseries lofwaterexposing shelves, a shell within which `said shelves are supportedone below another, a heat-generator beneath the lowest shelf, a-nd ahot-water discharge at bottom, substantially as herein'before speciiied.p

Signed at'the city of New York,inthe-county of New York and State of NewYork,this '1st day of October, A. D. 1896.

ALBERT F. TRAGESER.

Vitnesses:

HENRY P. WELLS, WM. 'OSHAUGH'NEssY-

